Tracy Village Jets captain Kylie Duggan says three-time DBA champions Lightning will still be tough minus stars in Round 1
TRACY Village captain Kylie Duggan isn’t buying it.She still thinks Lightning will present her team a big challenge in Friday night’s Round 1 blockbuster grand-final replay.
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TRACY Village captain Kylie Duggan isn’t buying it.
She still thinks Lightning will present her team a big challenge in Friday night’s Round 1 blockbuster grand-final replay.
Lightning coach Jason Ivinson went to great lengths to play down his team’s chances this year because his three best players – Claire Maree O’Bryan, Dom Carbone and April Rummery-Lamb – are out.
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A key tall inside presence, Rummery-Lamb might have played her last game for Lightning for quite some time.
She has linked up with Central Districts in the NBL1 Central and, depending on the COVID-19 situation, hopes to head to the US and play for Newberry College in South Carolina from July.
Carbone has impressed with Hawthorn Hawks, which means Ivinson would be thrilled if she was to return after the VFLW season and play enough games to qualify for the finals.
And O’Bryan’s work situation could see her miss most of, if not all, of the 2021 Darwin Basketball League season.
It was enough for Ivinson to play down his team’s chances, despite Lightning still boasting good depth and being the three-time champions.
“We’re happy not to have the favourites tag going into this season,” Ivinson said before the season launch this week.
“So we’re not overconfident, but we still want to compete.
“It’s only a five-team competition, so we only have to finish fourth and then it’s a new competition in the finals.”
But Duggan isn’t buying into that.
And why would she?
The star guard said losing the past three grand finals to Lightning gave her teammates a huge amount of motivation for this year.
“Dom and April are quality players, and we’re not sure about Claire (her availability), too,” Duggan said.
“But Lightning still have quality throughout their team.
“They’ve got a lot of depth, and this will give their other players opportunities to step up.
“It won’t be an easy game for us.
“But I think if we can play a four-quarter game we should be OK.”
Despite Ivinson playing down his team’s chances, Lightning still has the personnel to be competitive without its three stars.
“We had 12 players last year, so we’ve always had the numbers. And that is our motto – strength in numbers,” he said.
“We’ve got very capable players like Lauren Barnes and Kirra Hill-Carter who can fill those roles for us.
“Kirra is a good player who has experience at junior college level in the US.
“And she’s done well with her footy at Nightcliff Tigers.
“(Against the Jets) we’ll need to watch their strong transition game and make the most of our opportunities.”
Ansett v Uni Rebels is the earlier women’s Round 1 game from 7pm on Friday night.
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